It is constructed so as to detect a joint movement position of a robot arm by a position detector and a joint movement speed is calculated from change amounts of the joint movement position and elapsed time and is compared with an allowable movement speed and unlocking and locking of a brake are controlled so that the joint movement speed of an arm at the time of brake unlocking becomes within a constant value even when a shape, an attitude and a load condition of the robot arm vary. Therefore, movement work of the arm by the brake unlocking can be performed alone and a robot with high safety can be obtained.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A robot comprising: a driving apparatus for moving and driving a robot arm, a position detector for detecting a position of the robot arm, a brake apparatus for maintaining a stationary attitude of the robot arm, and an unlocking switch for stopping servo control and unlocking the brake apparatus, characterized in that it is constructed so that when a command from the unlocking switch is given, a movement speed is calculated based on a position change amount and elapsed time from the position detector and also is compared with an allowable movement speed specified previously and when the movement speed is larger, a brake is locked and when the movement speed is smaller, the brake is unlocked.
2. A robot comprising: a driving apparatus for moving and driving a robot arm, a position detector for detecting a position of the robot arm, a brake apparatus for maintaining a stationary attitude of the robot arm, and an unlocking switch for stopping servo control and unlocking the brake apparatus, characterized in that it is constructed so that when a command from the unlocking switch is given, a movement amount within a control program execution cycle is obtained from a change amount of the position detector and is compared with an allowable movement amount specified previously and when the movement amount is larger, a brake is locked and when the movement amount is smaller, the brake is unlocked.
3. A robot comprising: a driving apparatus for moving and driving a robot arm, a position detector for detecting a position of the robot arm, a brake apparatus for maintaining a stationary attitude of the robot arm, an unlocking switch for stopping servo control and unlocking the brake apparatus, and an auxiliary rotary switch for switching whether or not the driving apparatus is rotated to move the robot arm at the time of a servo control stop by the unlocking switch, characterized in that it is constructed so that when a command from the unlocking switch is given and the auxiliary rotary switch is switched so as to move the robot arm, a movement speed is calculated based on a position change amount and elapsed time from the position detector and is compared with an allowable movement speed specified previously and when the movement speed is larger, a brake is locked and when the movement speed is smaller, the brake is unlocked and also the driving apparatus is moved by predetermined torque.
4. A robot comprising: a driving apparatus for moving and driving a robot arm, a position detector for detecting a position of the robot arm, a brake apparatus for maintaining a stationary attitude of the robot arm, and an unlocking switch for stopping servo control and unlocking the brake apparatus, and an auxiliary rotary switch for switching whether or not the driving apparatus is rotated to move the robot arm at the time of a servo control stop by the unlocking switch, characterized in that it is constructed so that when a command from the unlocking switch is given and the auxiliary rotary switch is switched so as to move the robot arm, a movement amount within a control program execution cycle is obtained from a change amount of the position detector and is compared with an allowable movement amount specified previously and when the movement amount is larger, a brake is locked and when the movement amount is smaller, the brake is unlocked.
5. A robot comprising: a driving apparatus for moving and driving a robot arm, a position detector for detecting a position of the robot arm, a brake apparatus for maintaining a stationary attitude of the robot arm, and an unlocking switch for stopping servo control and unlocking the brake apparatus, characterized in that it is constructed so that when a command from the unlocking switch is given, from a distance to a robot region preset and a movement speed obtained by a position change amount and elapsed time from the position detector, a movement speed in the robot region is calculated and is compared with an allowable movement speed preset and when the movement speed is larger, a brake is locked and when the movement speed is smaller, the brake is unlocked.
6. A robot comprising: a driving apparatus for moving and driving a robot arm, a position detector for detecting a position of the robot arm, a brake apparatus for maintaining a stationary attitude of the robot arm, and an unlocking switch for stopping servo control and unlocking the brake apparatus, characterized in that it is constructed so that when a command from the unlocking switch is given, from a distance to a robot region preset and a position change amount from the position detector within a control program execution cycle, a movement amount in the robot region is calculated and is compared with an allowable movement amount preset and when the movement amount is larger, a brake is locked and when the movement amount is smaller, the brake is unlocked.
7. A robot comprising: a driving apparatus for moving and driving a robot arm, a position detector for detecting a position of the robot arm, a brake apparatus for maintaining a stationary attitude of the robot arm, and an unlocking switch for stopping servo control and unlocking the brake apparatus, characterized in that it is constructed so that when a command from the unlocking switch is given, a movement speed of a work point of the arm top obtained by a present position, a position change amount and elapsed time from the position detector indicating a length of the arm and its attitude is compared with an allowable movement speed preset and when the movement speed is larger than the allowable movement speed, a brake is locked and when the movement speed is smaller than the allowable movement speed, the brake is unlocked.
8. A robot as defined in any of claims 1 , 3 , 5 and 7 , characterized in that it is constructed so that an upper limit value and a lower limit value are provided as the allowable movement speed and when the movement speed is larger than the upper limit value of the allowable movement speed, a brake is locked and when the movement speed is smaller than the lower limit value of the allowable movement speed, the brake is unlocked and when the movement speed is between the upper limit value and the lower limit value of the allowable movement speed, processing of the previous time is continued.
9. A robot comprising: a driving apparatus for moving and driving a robot arm, a position detector for detecting a position of the robot arm, a brake apparatus for maintaining a stationary attitude of the robot arm, and an unlocking switch for stopping servo control and unlocking the brake apparatus, characterized in that it is constructed so that when a command from the unlocking switch is given, a movement amount of a work point of the arm top obtained by a present position, a position change amount and elapsed time from the position detector indicating a length of the arm and its attitude is compared with an allowable movement amount preset and when the movement amount is larger than the allowable movement amount, a brake is locked and when the movement amount is smaller than the allowable movement amount, the brake is unlocked.
10. A robot as defined in any of claims 2 , 4 , 6 and 9 , characterized in that it is constructed so that an upper limit value and a lower limit value are provided as the allowable movement amount and when the movement amount is larger than the upper limit value of the allowable movement amount, a brake is locked and when the movement amount is smaller than the lower limit value of the allowable movement amount, the brake is unlocked and when the movement amount is between the upper limit value and the lower limit value of the allowable movement amount, processing of the previous time is continued.
11. A robot comprising: a driving apparatus for moving and driving a robot arm, a position detector for detecting a position of the robot arm, a brake apparatus for maintaining a stationary attitude of the robot arm, and an unlocking switch for stopping servo control and unlocking the brake apparatus, characterized in that it is constructed so that brake unlocking time and brake locking time according to a position and a load condition of the robot arm are previously stored and the brake unlocking time and the brake locking time stored are read out of the present position and the preset load condition of the robot arm and a brake is unlocked based on the brake unlocking time read out and the brake is locked based on the brake locking time read out.
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April 12, 2002
July 12, 2005
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